Batman is my Therapist: What Superheroes Can Teach us About Our Mental Health

"Have you ever thought “How have superheroes (of any genre) helped you to become more comfortable with who you are?” This session is an entertaining and interactive discussion about our super\heroes and our mental health. Don’t like Batman? No problem. This session draws on hero stories from Marvel, DC, and pretty much anywhere else. Want to know what Jessica Jones, Spiderman, Deadpool and Wanda Maximoff have in common? (Join us and find out!). Through video clips, stories, audience participation and a brief practical exercise, we will explore our vulnerabilities and what makes each of us Super." - Brief story about my personal experience with depression and anxiety, and how superheroes are an ongoing inspiration in my recovery

• Provide some examples from my professional experience as a therapist, where I use superheroes, fictional characters, imagination and creativity in the treatment of addiction, trauma, depression and anxiety, and grief and loss.
• Audience participation as they respond to the question of how superheroes help and support their own healing and mental health experience
• A positive, hopeful, “non-illness” discussion of mental health
• A look at how various superheroes live out challenging mental health experiences and what we can learn from it